Spring support for sign characters



July 24, 1956 F. P. MITTEN 2,755,586

SPRING SUPPGRT FOR SIGN CHARACTERS Filed Dec. 12, 1952 INVENTOR. Frank R M/f/en I Ida/ M? SPRING SUPPQRT FGR SIGN CHARACTERS Frank P. Mitten, Redlands, 'Caiif.

Application December 12, 1952, Serial No. 325,673

8 Claims. (Cl. 40-442) This invention relates to display signs and is herein illustrated as embodied in a sign of the type including a series of sign characters removably and interchangeably supported on a base having a longitudinal groove adapted to receive the anchor lugs extending from the bottoms of the characters.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an improved display sign of the above type and more particularly to provide in such sign improved means by which the sign characters are effectively retained in supported positions on said base, yet easily inserted and removed.

To the above and other ends, this invention contemplates a base provided with a longitudinal groove of s'ufiicient width to accommodate said anchor lugs and also a character-retaining unit, the latter being disposed contiguous to the rear wall of said groove and including a spring and a spring-retaining sheath, said spring being characterized by the fact that it is bowed transversely of itself and is of a generally zigzag contour to provide a connected series of independently acting spring sections, adjacent ones of which are joined together through the medium of a common leg and all of which are housed within said sheath which conforms in general to the transverse arcuate contour of the spring, said sheath being provided with an anchor flange by which the character-retaining unit may be held in a generally upright position within said longitudinal groove so that the spring may act against said anchor lugs by way of its associated sheath to retain the sign characters properly positioned on said base.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a sign character mounted on the supporting base;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view fragmentally illustrating the character-retaining unit in its normal upright position;

Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to that of Fig. 2 and respectively illustrating rearwardly and forwardly inclined positions to which the sheath and its associated spring may be tilted or rocked with reference to the vertically disposed anchor flange as occasions may require;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 and showing an end portion of the spring as it would appear at the time such spring is being introduced into the sheath; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view illustrating in a modification of Fig. l a single and effective means by which the character-retaining unit may be attached to the supporting base.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the supporting base 10, which may be formed of wood or other suitable material, is provided throughout its length with a longitudinal groove 11 having a width, as between its front and rear vertical Walls, substantially greater than the thickness of the anchor lug 12 attached to or formed integral with and projecting downwardly from the bottom of each sign character, such as the letter P, which is shown at 14. Here it is to be noted that the anchor lug 12 is so Patented July 24, i;

disposed 'rearwardly of the frontal plane of the sign character 14 as to provide a shoulder-like abutment 15 adapted to assume a seated position on the base 10 at a point adjacent the front wall of the groove 11, which is of such depth as to so accommodate said lug that the shoulderlike abutment is permitted to assume its seated position as shown.

It will be understood, of course, that the supporting base 10, which is herein illustrated as broken away transversely of itself, may be of appropriate length to accommodate the required characters necessary to make up a complete sign; and that such bases may be cut from preformed base stock in bulk, to suit various signs.

In order that the sign characters may be effectively retained in supported positions on the base 10 and yet be so held as to enable them to be readily removed and interchanged at will, there is provided a character-retaining unit indicated at 16, which, when inserted within .the longitudinal groove 11 of the base, is adapted to make line contact with the lugs 12 at the rear thereof and there impinge against the same at points relatively near their upper and lower ends.

The retaining unit 16, as will be best understood from Figs. 2-5, includes a spring 17 and a spring-retaining sheath 18, each being fabricated from a suitable material such as flat strip brass or bronze. Here it should be noted, however, that the material from which the spring is fabricated is preferably somewhat harder and of a somewhat heavier gage than that from which the sheath is sade since the spring rather than the sheath is depended upon, at least for the most part, to effect such impinging action on the lugs 12 by the retaining unit 16 as is required to hold the sign characters in proper positions on the base.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5, it will be noted that the spring 17 is bowed transversely of itself in a rearwardly direction and is characterized by the fact that it consists of a series of alternately inverted substantially U-shaped spring sections 17a, adjacent ones of which arejoined together through the medium of a common leg 17b. From an inspection of Fig. 5 it will be understood that th'e spring 17, which conforms generally in transverse section to the sheath 18, is adapted to be conveniently introduced into that sheath by way of one end thereof, the sheath thereupon serving to completely house the spring as will be appreciated from an inspection of Figs. 24.

Considering the sheath in detail, the metal from which it is formed is so bent as to provide a front wall section 19 presenting throughout the longitudinal extent of its opposite side margins 21 pair of substantially flat and relatively narrow lug-engaging areas 20-20, between which said section is bowed transversely of itself in a rearwardly direction so as to there conform generally to the contour of the spring 17.

"In fabricating the sheath, the metal entering into it is so bent along the outer parallel edges of the lug-engaging areas 20-20 as to provide at the rear of the wall section 19 a pair of wing sections 21, 22 which are disposed in an overlapping relation to each other and are so bent as to form with said wall section an elongated cavity which extends the full length of the sheath and is of such transverse curvature as to accommodate the spring 17.

In order that the retaining unit 16 may be held in a generally upright position within the longitudinal groove 11 of the base 10, such base is provided with a slot 23 which extends the full length of said groove at the extreme rear thereof and into which may be in serted the lower marginal portion of an anchor flange 24 formed integral with and extending downwardly from the extreme upper end of the wing section 22. Here it should be noted that the width of the slot 23 is such as to provide a snug fit for the anchor flange 24 so that the character retaining unit 16 may be effectively held in a substantially vertical position with the bottom edge of the sheath 19 at the bottom of the groove 11 and with the anchor flange engaging the rear wall of that groove.

If desired, the slot 23 may be modified, as shown in Fig. 6, so as to provide a somewhat wider slot 23' adapted to snugly accommodate the combined thickness of the anchor flange 24 and an appropriately stiff filler strip 25 of suitable material engaging the rear wall of the groove 11 and serving to properly hold the character-retaining unit in its operative position adjacent the rear wall of said groove.

In each form of the invention herein shown and described, it becomes apparent that sign characters. such as that indicated at 14, may be readily inserted in the base or removed therefrom or interchanged at will. In this connection it will be observed that even though the character-retaining unit 16 is normally positioned in a substantially vertical position within the groove 11 such unit will offer no obstacle to insertion of the character since the sheath 18 within which the spring 17 is carried may be rearwardly tilted or rocked from its position shown in Fig. 2 to its rearwardly inclined position shown in Fig. 3 so as to permit ready entry of the lower end of the anchor lug 12 into the slot 11, the tilting or rocking movement of the sheath taking place about a longitudinal axis located in the vicinity of the line engagement existing between the wing section 22 and its associated anchor flange 24. Once the anchor lug 12 has been thus started on its way of entry, it may be further moved downwardly across the front wall section 19 until the anchor lug 12 is engaged by the lower lugengaging area 20 and the shoulder-like abutment assumes a seated position on the base 10. As the anchor lug 12 moves downwardly over the front wall section 19, the sheath 18 is cammed, under the action of said lug, into its vertical position at or about the instant the lower end of that lug arrives at the lower lug-engaging area 20, whereupon a further slight downward displacement of the character 14 will effect complete face-toface engagement as between the anchor lug and both of the lug-engaging areas -20, as shown in Fig. l. The spring 17 is, of course, placed under compression incident to insertion of the lug 12 into the groove 15 and it therefore acts, by way of its associated sheath 18. against the rear of said lug to retain the character 14 properly positioned on its base 10.

As will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 4, the sheath 18 is adapted to be also tilted or rocked into a forwardly inclined position with reference to the anchor flange 24, the tilting or rocking movement in this instance taking place about the same longitudinal axis as is mentioned in connection with the above described rearward tilting movement of the sheath as it assumes its position shown in Fig. 3. It follows that the character-retaining unit 16 is adapted to accommodate itself to any given anchor lug 12 so as to insure an intimate face-to-face engagement of the lug-engaging areas 20--20 with both the top and bottom of such lug under the action of the spring 17 even if the lug be thicker at one end than at the other end.

The metal of the retaining-sheath is preferably so thin and malleable as to be without longitudinal rigidity in its folded shape so that the retaining unit as a whole readily accommodates itself to lugs of different thicknesses, even on adjacent letters. The discontinuous margins of the spring 17 contribute this result. While a spring having U-shaped sections is shown, it is to be understood that other generally Zigzag formations may be used with like effect.

By covering the spring unit with a smooth surfaced sheath, all sharp corners which might tend to scratch and wear the lugs of the letters, which are usually of a plaster composition, are avoided and the letters are not worn out with use.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention above described are to be construed as merely illustrative and not as limitations of the invention as described in the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A sign comprising one or more sign characters each having a bottom lug, a supporting base having a longitudinal groove adapted to receive said bottom lugs and having a depth about equal to the height and a width substantially greater than the thickness of said bottom lugs; a retaining unit to removably hold said characters against the front wall of said groove and including a spring of generally zigzag shape bowed transversely of itself in a rearwardly direction, a spring retaining sheath housing said spring therein and extending longitudinally of said groove and conforming generally to the contour of said spring, said sheath being of flexible sheet-metal adapted to conform to the shape assumed by different portions of said spring and being positioned within said groove in a contiguous relation to the rear wall thereof and being there adapted under the action of said spring to impinge along its longitudinal side margins against the rear faces of said lugs, whereby said lugs are pressed against the front wall of said groove.

2. A sign according to claim 1, wherein said sheath is provided with an anchor flange through the medium of which said sheath may be attached to said base and thereby held in a substantially vertical position within said groove.

3. A sign according to claim 1, wherein said sheath includes a front wall section, a pair of wing sections connected to the opposite side margins of said wall section and disposed in an overlapping relation to each other at the rear of said wall section.

4. A sign according to claim 1, wherein said sheath includes a front wall section, a pair of wing sections connected to the opposite side margins of said wall section and disposed in an overlapping relation to each other at the rear of said wall section, said wing sections together with said wall sections forming an elongated cavity within which said spring is carried, and an anchor flange connected to one of said wing sections and through the medium of which said sheath is attached to said base and maintained in substantially an upright position within said groove.

5. A sign according to claim 1, wherein said spring is composed of a harder and heavier gage metal than that from which said sheath is fabricated.

6. A sign according to claim 1, wherein said spring is characterized by the fact that it consists of a series of alternately inverted substantially U-shaped spring sections, adjacent ones of which are joined together through the medium of a common leg.

7. A sign according to claim 1, wherein said longitudinal side margins of said sheath present a pair of substantially fiat and relatively narrow lug-engaging areas adapted under the action of said spring on said sheath from within the same to impinge against the rear faces of said lugs, whereby said lugs are pressed against the front wall of said groove.

8. For use in a sign of the type including a supporting base having therein a longitudinal groove accommodating in spaced relation to the rear wall thereof the bottom lugs of one or more sign characters; a resilient character-retaining unit adapted to occupy a substantially vertical position within said groove at the rear of said lugs and comprising an elongated spring bowed transversely of itself and having a zigzag shape providing a series of connected segments capable of independent spring action, and a spring-retaining sheath of sheet metal of such thinness as to conform generally to the contour of separate portions of said spring when it is subjected to varying pressure, said sheath comprising a front wall and overlapping rear Walls bent to conform generally to the normal contour of said spring, the top and bottom portions of said front wall being adapted to engage said lugs when said unit is positioned in said groove to press them against a Wall thereof. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,605,583 Heymer Nov. 2, 1926 10 6 Goddard et a1. Dec. 19, 1933 Place Oct. 12, 1937 Staaf Jan. 16, 1951 Bright May 22, 1951 Staaf Apr. 22, 1952 Smithson et a1. Mar. 10, 1953 

